


Magnificently Malcontent

by Musical_in_Theory



Category: jacksepticeye, youtube - Fandom
Genre: Angst, Dark Magic, JJ is my smol bean and I love him, Jacksepticeye egos, Panic, Paranoia, Puppet!Marvin
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-04-16
Updated: 2019-07-28
Packaged: 2020-01-14 21:18:32
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 13
Words: 17,599
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18484552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Musical_in_Theory/pseuds/Musical_in_Theory
Summary: Marvin has been growing distant from the others and no one can figure out why. Will his brothers be able to save him from himself, or will he succumb to his own inner darkness?





	1. Chapter 1

Somewhere in the house a door slammed and Jackie flinched. He knew exactly whose door it was. The sight of a dejected Chase only confirmed it. Marvin the Magnificent had once again shut himself within his room. More and more the cat hid away from the rest of them, and it wasn’t hard to notice how his absence had shifted the environment within the whole house. There were no more random little tricks or the begging to show one of this new sleight of hand he had just learned. No more impromptu shows that ended with Henrik arguing how “zhat shouldn’t even be possible!” and JJ’s silent giggles. It was all replaced with slamming doors and bangs that were closely followed by frustrated cursing. When asked about what he was doing, Marvin would only back away and say it was just a new kind of magic they wouldn’t understand. Marvin had also taken to wearing his mask all the time. Jackie could barely stand it anymore. The last patrol he went on was a complete bust, because he was so preoccupied with thinking about how to save his little brother. How can he try to save complete strangers when he can’t even get Marvin to talk to him?

Jackie was jarred out of his spiraling thoughts by Chase flopping onto the couch beside him. Chase’s sigh told him everything alongside the dejected look on his face. The young father’s eyes looked so tired as they did after every “conversation” with Marvin. He was just as lost as the rest of them, but they could all tell it weighed heaviest on Chase.

“No luck again?” Jackie asked as he continued to stare at the stairs. Chase only shook his head. He took off his hat and raked a hand through his hair. His eyes were far away, and Jackie could tell he was thinking the same thing: when did this even happen? JJ had been the first one to realize something was off. He was the closest with Marvin out of all of them. He had found the magician hunched over some old book that looked like it hadn’t been touched in a thousand years. Marvin had been completely engrossed and nearly jumped out of his skin when JJ tapped him on the shoulder. He about sprinted up to his room, and that was the first of a long line of door slams. From then on Chase and JJ tag-teamed trying to get him to open back up to them. Even Henrik has tried his hand at it by making up some fancy disease that he needed to check Marvin for. Nothing worked. Nothing ever worked. Jackie was starting to feel hopeless about the situation, which was a rare thing for the superhero who was practically a wellspring for hope. He had never felt more useless.

Marvin slumped against his door. He knew what they thought about him. He knew they were concerned, but this was worth it. They would understand soon enough. They would. _Would they?_ They had to. Marvin just couldn’t let them find out what was going on quite yet. It would be his biggest trick yet, but if his brothers found out they would stop it. _You know they won’t like it. They’ll call you crazy._ It was a risk he was willing to take. He wasn’t going to let anything get in his way.


	2. Chapter 2

Marvin threw his books and scrolls off of his desk in a flurry of paper and ink. “This is useless! None of this even makes any sense!” his voice reverberated against his bedroom walls, but he couldn’t care less. Marvin had finally found the spell to soundproof his room a few days ago. He couldn’t take the chance of his family hearing what he was doing anymore, especially not with how active the glitch was becoming.  _ It’s fine. Keep working. They’ll be so happy that you did. _ Marvin sighed, “Easy enough for you to say. You don’t have to worry about being caught.” He bent down to pick his books back up.  _ You wouldn’t have to either if you just did what I told you to do. The work would go faster too.  _

“You know that’s off limits, Anti. I won’t betray my family like that. There are still lines that I won’t cross.” The glitch had been offering him the same deal day after day. Become his puppet for just a little while, and he’ll lend his aid in Marvin’s project.  _ I’m family too. _ Marvin felt his blood boil at that comment. “You are not family! You gave up that title when you tried to take Henrik,” he screamed. He turned around and punched the wall. What was he doing? Working with Anti of all people? It was a new low, and he knew it. Suddenly a set of hands were on his shoulders and spinning him around. It was the glitch himself, Antisepticeye. 

“ _ So what does that make you, hmm? After all you are the one choosing to work with me _ ,” he hummed. If Marvin hadn’t been so sleep deprived, he would have noticed the gradual sound of static slowly filling the room.  

“I’m not like you. I’m not! Shut up! Just shut up!” Marvin snapped his hands up to cover his ears and tried to get out of Anti’s grasp. 

Anti’s hold wouldn’t budged, “ _ Aren’t you? This magic you’re using? It’s dark, darker than you’ve ever experienced before. But you say you’re doing it for a good reason: to help your family. It’s not that far off from what I do. You just don’t want to face the truth _ .” Anti roughly grabbed Marvin’s face to force his eyes to make contact with his. Marvin could tell he was starting to panic, but there was no way he would show that to the man- no, demon- in front of him. “ _ No matter what you do now, you’ll be branded. They won’t trust you. They won’t see how you have been working so hard to help them. They’ll only see a villain, just like me _ .”  

Marvin’s eyes widened. “No. No. That’s n-not true. I-I’m not like you,” he whimpered. His heart rate was steadily picking up, and even Anti at this point could see that he was shaking. All it would take is one final tug at the right string.

“ _ If you don’t believe me, go tell them about what you’ve been doing _ .” Marvin stopped breathing. His brothers would never forgive him. They’ll throw him out. They’ll beat him up. They’ll cast him aside. There was a reason he hadn’t told them about his plan before now, but he wasn’t about to let this glitch be right. His anger towards Anti was a lot stronger than the panic welling up in his chest.

“Fine! I know they love me. They said that they would always accept me! They know that I am nothing like you! I’ll prove it! You’ll see.” Marvin rushed out into the hallway and slammed his door before he could lose his nerve. In his hurry to get away, he didn’t notice JJ until it was too late. They both fell to the ground from the sudden force of running into one another. In the back of his mind Marvin registered the sound of breaking dishes. Upon further inspection he could see a wooden tray with the remnants of food and shards of plates surrounding it. JJ was bringing him dinner. Marvin didn’t have time to be grateful as he could hear the pounding footsteps of the rest of his family drawing nearer.

His eyes flickered back and forth between his door and the wide eyes of his little brother. Those caring, worried, fearful eyes. One look and Marvin knew he lost every ounce of courage he had. How could he tell his broth- no, his best friend that he had gone behind everyone’s back to work with someone who had hurt him no less than 5 minutes after his creation?  _ You can’t _ . Marvin didn’t have it in him to disagree.

“JJ? Marvin? Are you guys alright?” Jackie’s voice came booming up the stairs filled with a level of concern that Marvin didn’t deserve.

“We are fine. Just a light scuffle.” JJ signed as soon as they were all in the line of sight. If only he knew how wrong he was. Marvin could see it now. They would all turn their backs on him. Their concern for him would turn to contempt. A slight buzzing grew in the back of his mind at the same rate as his heartbeat. Chase crossed over to them quickly, and Marvin scooted himself backward until his back was pressed up against the door. Although he couldn’t hear him, he knew exactly who was behind that door and what would happen if it were to open. It was an event that he had to prevent at all costs.

“Marvin? Hey we just want to talk to you. Make sure you’re alright, dude.” Chase slowed his pace toward him.

“Hyperventilation. Zhat is not a good sign.” Henrik piped up from the back. All eyes were on Marvin. They could all tell he was panicking. They were all going to find out. No. No! They’re mouths kept moving, but Marvin couldn’t hear their voices. All he heard was a steady, deafening static filling up his senses, filling up his mind. They were coming closer. No, they were going to attack him! He couldn’t breath. He couldn’t think. He couldn’t escape.

And then it happened. Marvin glitched. The whole world went still. Everyone’s eyes went wide with shock. No one could process what they just saw, least of all JJ. His eyes were welling up with tears. Before they knew it, Marvin dashed back inside his room. They were all left frozen in the hallway, left to pick up the pieces.

 


	3. Chapter 3

Chase was frozen where he stood. His eyes were fixated solely on the dark brown door in front of him. He couldn’t understand what he just saw. Marvin glitched. Marvin glitched  _ like Anti _ . His mind was trying to reject the possibility that Marvin had anything to do with Anti, but there was no other way to see it. His little brother was becoming like the demon. Chase was hit with an overwhelming wave of despair. His little brother. The one who was always so excited to show him and JJ his latest trick. The one who would come to Chase for emotional support when he needed it. The one who was there to cheer him up during the worst of the divorce. His little brother. The one whom Chase had failed.

Chase didn’t have much time to spiral within his own mind, although it felt like an eternity to him, because it was right then that the hallway erupted into madness. JJ scrambled towards Marvin’s door. He started pounding on the wood and clawing at it. Tears poured down his cheeks, and his neck was strained. JJ was trying to scream. Chase couldn’t begin to imagine the devastation he had to be feeling. After all, before Marvin started pulling away, the two of them were practically inseparable. Jackie would call them the ultimate partners in crime. 

Jackie wasn’t doing much better. However instead of reacting in sadness, he chose anger. He paced up and down the hallway at a rapid speed. His face was beet red, and he glared at the floor as if it were the one to blame. A vein was pulsing near his right temple. Chase had never seen Jackie this furious before. Henrik had told him once that Jackie used to have a massive temper, but that was before Chase had gotten there. It was before Anti…

Before Chase could be led astray by another train of thought, he shook his head and looked around for the good doctor. Henrik was nowhere to be seen. It seemed like he had bolted before the rest of them could think to act. Chase couldn’t blame him though. Out of all of all of them, Henrik was the one with the most experience with the glitch. He made a mental note to check on him later, but Chase had to get to his other brothers first before everything fell apart.

Chase made his way to the door to tear JJ away from it, but he wasn’t going down without a fight. JJ kicked and scratched. Chase had to shut his eyes. He just couldn’t see him like this. Soon they were far enough away, and JJ gave up. He turned around and collapsed into Chase’s supportive arms. They weren’t sure how long they stayed like that, kneeled down on the floor within each other’s arms. 

Once it seemed like JJ had no more tears to shed, Chase helped him stand and looked over to Jackie, still pacing. “Jackie, I need you to help me get JJ downstairs bro,” Chase hollered over to the hero, but it didn’t look like he was listening. He was almost completely in his own world, lost in his own mind. “Jackie!” Chase got up and walked shakily over to him. He put a hand on the hero’s shoulder which brought him out of whatever thought vortex he had been in. Chase’s voice dropped to just above a whisper, “Jackie, we need you right now man.”

“Y-yeah. Okay,” Jackie’s eyes softened as he looked over towards JJ. They both walked over to JJ and each took an arm around their shoulders. Working in tandem, it didn’t take long to get them all downstairs and away from the scene of disaster. Chase took a good look at his brothers. He wasn’t used to taking charge of the situation unless it had to do with his kids, but just one look at the state they were all in made it clear he was the only one who could. 

“Alright my dudes, I’m gonna go get Henrik. You guys stay here, breathe Jackie, and when I get back, we’re all gonna figure this out.” Chase meant for that to be more confident, but he could tell how much his voice was wavering. Nevertheless he turned on his heel and went in search for Henrik. One step at a time. They could do this.

 


	4. Chapter 4

Thanks to the soundproofing spell Marvin used, Anti couldn’t hear anything that took place in the hallway, but he didn’t care. He still knew what was happening. It was all according to plan. Anti wandered around Marvin’s room. To say that it was chaotic was putting it lightly, which was saying something coming from him. There were books and loose parchment littering the floor. Decks of cards of all sorts were on every surface. Equipment from the magician’s past ‘performances’ were on the walls or put in the corners. Candles were tossed about haphazardly from Marvin’s latest project. 

The glitch laughed to himself quietly. Marvin’s project. A noble idea in theory. Fix the glitch to protect his family. Unfortunately for the little magician, it meant prolonged exposure to Anti. Marvin lasted longer than Anti had thought he would, but they all break eventually. Marvin was so close to his breaking point that Anti could almost taste it. All it took was a few tug of the strings.

Anti looked down and nudged a stray book on the floor with his foot. It was one of the first books Marvin had looked in for answers. The old binding and worn pages were deceiving, though. It contained no secrets and few answers. It contained only lighter magic. Anti scoffed, thinking back to how naive Marvin had been in the beginning. He was careful to keep away from anything that his brothers would deem dangerous, besides Anti. One pull of the string.  _ Why don’t you try something a little more advanced, a little darker. _ Of course Marvin was resistant at first, as all of his puppets are in the beginning, but as Anti started introducing a bit of his static, the idea didn’t seem so bad anymore.  _ They won’t find out anyway. _

Once Marvin had started searching in his forbidden books, Anti pulled another string. JJ had walked in on Marvin doing his research one day.  _ Run. He won’t understand. _ Marvin did as he told without a second thought. That was when Anti realized just how good of a puppet he had found. After Marvin had made his way back to his room, Anti pulled again.  _ Be careful, magician. You don’t know what they’ll do if they find out. _ Marvin’s anxiety had always been a selling point for Anti. It was something he had worked hard to keep from his family but couldn’t keep hidden from Anti. A little more static pushed anxiety to the point of paranoia. It was music to Anti’s ears.

Marvin had listened more and more each day. His project turned into an obsession. Anti’s ideas were put into practice. Unfortunately, his loyalty to his brothers kept anything further from happening. Marvin wouldn’t do anything that he saw as a move against them. He wouldn’t give in to the strings. Anti had almost thought nothing could get Marvin to that point until his outburst today. Static is so much easier to hide behind a carefully crafted wave of frustration, exhaustion, and anxiety. One more pull.

Anti looked at the door and caused his static to ring at an all time high in Marvin’s head. Once it hit its peak, Anti tried something he had been practicing for months. He infused a glitch into his static. Anti only had to wait a minute to see the results of his experiment. Marvin slammed the door behind him and sunk to the floor. He sobbed and threw his mask at the opposite wall. Anti glitched out of the way to avoid it.

He took two confident strides over to Marvin and lifter his chin up. Marvin’s red-rimmed eyes looked into toxic green ones yet again. One last tug at his worn-down strings. “ _ I tried to warn you, little one _ ,” the glitch put as much sympathy into his voice as he could muster, “ _ They were never going to understand _ .” He moved his hand to the magician’s cheek and felt him lean into the touch as more tears fell silently. Anti had finally broke him. “ _ I understand. It’s too much to handle now. Just let me take over. I can fix everything _ .” Marvin hesitated to answer, and Anti had to work hard to keep from yanking him by the hair. Anti could see the war happening within Marvin’s head, but it wasn’t one that Marvin would win. He nodded. 

“ _ Very good, little magician, very good _ .” Anti stepped backward as little red strings appeared from his fingertips. They attached to Marvin’s wrists, ankles, and around his neck. As the strings pulled taut, his eyes went blank. The bright blue that usually shone underneath a spotlight, dulled to a steel gray. “ _ Now let’s put your skills to some real use, puppet _ .”


	5. Chapter 5

As soon as Chase was out of his brothers’ line of sight, he sprinted down the halls over to Henrik’s room. He didn’t want to admit it to any of the others, but he was scared out of his mind. The last time Chase came into contact with Anti or anything associated with the glitch was when his children were taken. He didn’t even want to think about what has been happening to Marvin in the past month right under his own nose. 

Soon enough he was at the good doctor’s door. Chase skidded to a halt and knocked forcefully. “Henrik? Hey, man, we need you to come out here! Like seriously!” No response. Now was not the time for the man to shut down on them. Henrik was always the one they turned to in a crisis. He was the level-headed one. Chase couldn’t do this without him. He knocked again only to be greeted with silence once more. Frustrated to his very core, Chase picked the lock. It was something he hated doing, but it was a necessary skill he picked up from having his kids lock him out.

Picking the lock only took about a minute to do. Chase mentally berated himself. He should’ve been able to go faster, but his damn fingers kept shaking. He threw the door open to see the room empty. For a second Chase was sprung back to when Henrik was first taken. He shook his head and cursed himself again. Now wasn’t the time for jumping to conclusions. What would Henrik do? What would Henrik do? He’s not in his room but that doesn’t mean he was taken.

Chase took a deep breath and tried to think rationally, but it wasn’t really a skill he was any good at. Where did he go? Suddenly a light bulb lit up in his head as he thought of the one other place Henrik could possibly go at a time like this. Chase dashed through the door and made a series of twists and turns until he was standing in front of the forgotten shed in the backyard. Chase had found him there once months ago. Henrik had said that it had a calming effect and to not tell the others about it. The shed was so far away from all the main areas of the house that no one was ever there. 

Chase could hear someone breathing deeply through the door as if they were just then getting their breath back. Henrik must’ve sprinted all the way there. “Henrik? It’s, uhh, it’s me Chase. We kinda need ya with us buddy.” Chase tried to keep his voice steady and calm. He didn’t want to scare him off. Through the door he could hear shuffling sounds. The door opened a crack, and Chase could see the scared eyes of Henrik through the opening. Chase let out a breath he didn’t know he had been holding. At least he was alive.

“Look, I know you’re scared. We all are. But we need you with us. It’s all too-” Chase was cut off by Henrik’s shaking head. “What’s wrong?” Chase scrambled to try to find where he went wrong, but was stopped again as Henrik slowly came out of the shed.

“I vas scared, yes, but now…” he took a deep breath and looked down at his shoes, “You don’t understand.” He tried to turn to go back into his shed, but the motion was halted by Chase grabbing his arm. 

“Then help me understand.” Chase pleaded with Henrik. He couldn’t do this on his own, and if they were going to help Marvin with whatever was going on then all hands needed to be on deck. 

“It’s mein fault. It was all mein fault. I didn’t know zhat zhis vould happen. I should’ve known. Ich weiss nicht.” Henrik’s speech was rushed like a dam that had burst open. He quickly started speaking in complete German, which Chase knew was a sure sign that the doctor was panicking. 

“Woah, woah. Slow down there. Deep breaths. In for 4. Hold for 7. Out for 8. There we go. Now what were you trying to say?” Chase did his best to be patient. Unfortunately all the confusion and questions that were swimming in his head did nothing to help. Henrik finished his breathing exercise and looked more composed before looking up at Chase once more. 

“I’m zhe reason Marvin got involved vis Anti.”

 


	6. Chapter 6

Chase tried to keep the pity out of his expression but could tell that he was failing miserably. “Hen, I’m sure that’s not true. Trust me, we’re all blaming ourselves, but this is Anti we’re talking about, man.” Chase went to put a hand on Henrik’s shoulder, but he jerked out of the way.

“Nein! I caused Marvin to chase after zhe glitch! It’s my fault. I know it.” Henrik covered his face with his hands as tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. Chase didn’t know what to do. Part of him still believed that the doctor was being irrational; that it wasn’t really his fault. However, a small part of him had doubts. Henrik wasn’t an irrational man, so if he believed that he pushed Marvin, maybe…

Chase shook the thought out of his head. He straightened his shoulders and took Henrik’s arm. “Come on, let’s go back to the others. You can explain what happened, and we’ll talk it out. At least that’s what we should’ve done with Marv.” 

Henrik looked up at Chase. When had his little brother grown up so much? He nodded and let himself be led back inside. When the two entered the living room, both Jackie’s and JJ’s head snapped up. They looked like they had been drowning in their own thoughts just as Chase had been. JJ’s face was still a bit puffy from his tears.

Chase let go of the doctor’s arm, nodded to him, and went to sit down next to JJ. Out of all of them, JJ was the biggest mess. That didn’t surprise anyone considering how close he was to Marvin. Chase put his arm around him and rubbed his shoulder, trying to be as comforting and reassuring as possible. He might not be much of a leader, but he could still be there for his little brother.

Henrik cleared his throat and refocused the group on him. “I am sorry. I made a grave miscalculation, and Marvin has paid zhe price. I zhink I am zhe one who drove him to Anti in zhe first place.” Henrik focused his eyes on the back wall so that he wouldn’t have to look anyone in the eye. He didn’t think he deserved to. 

Jackie and JJ just stared at Henrik. They were just as confused as Chase had been. Jackie suddenly stood up. “Henrik, you and I both know who’s fault this is, and it sure as hell isn’t yours,” Jackie fumed, “That glitch needs to pay for everything he’s done.” Henrik simply shook his head.

“I told Marvin everyzhing,” he whispered softly. Jackie’s face paled and his posture stiffened. 

“What do you mean ‘everything’?” Jackie stormed up to the doctor.

“I vas cleaning out my desk, vhen he showed up out of novhere. He vanted to show me a new trick, but instead saw my old picture of zhe three of us. I had to tell him.” Henrik started explaining. Jackie’s eyes softened as he let out a sigh. Both JJ and Chase could tell those two knew a lot more than they were letting on. Jackie turned around to face them. 

“So then I guess it’s time to let them know too, huh? Alright, Henrik. Time to let some skeletons out of the closet.” Jackie looked back over his shoulder to his older brother and walked to stand beside him. He put his hand on Henrik’s shoulder as a show of solidarity.

Henrik made eye contact with Jackie, took a deep breath, and looked back at the younger two. “Before you two and Marvin vere created, it vas just Jackie, Anti, und I. Yes, Anti used to be a part of zhis family. Back zhen he vasn’t malicious as you know him. He vorked vis us. He vas a computer genius, und he could hack into any program. Anti loved to cause trouble for corrupt corporations by messing vis zheir netvork.” Henrik laughed sadly and looked over to Jackie.

“One night it all went wrong. He was home alone during a freak electrical storm. I tried to message him to stay away from the outlets and the computer, but of course he didn’t listen. He never listened. He had to have gotten shocked or something, and it messed with him. Computer code might’ve fused with him? Henrik and I never quite figured out what exactly happened, but when we got back home Anti was waiting for us with a knife in hand. We tried to help, but it was useless. He was just too far gone.” Jackie clenched his fist and grit his teeth as if the memory was physically painful to him. 

Henrik picked up where Jackie left off, “He attacked, but ve vere able to keep him off balance just enough to drive him away. He vanished, und ve couldn’t find him for months. Zhen you all vere created. Ve zhought zhat you vould be safe, zhat he vouldn’t attack you since you didn’t know him. He decided differently und tried to take both JJ und I. I zhought zhat by not telling you vhat Anti used to be, you would be spared from zhe hurt zhat Jackie und I endure. I vas wrong. Marvin paid zhe price for my oversight.” He closed his eyes and turned his face away from his younger brothers. His shoulders tensed up, and Chase could tell he was just waiting for them all to berate him.

Instead Chase calmly walked up to Henrik and hugged him. “We don’t blame you. We could never blame you,” he whispered. JJ cautiously followed Chase’s lead and walked up. Over Chase’s shoulder, he raised his hands and interlocked his pinkie fingers: his sign for solidarity. Henrik nearly crumpled into Chase after seeing that. Jackie still had his hand on Henrik’s shoulder and squeezed it, partly to show that he was there for the doctor and partly to help keep him upright.

They all stood like that for almost five minutes until Henrik broke away from everyone. He cleared his throat, “Ve… um, ve have ozher matters to attend to. Marvin is still in his room. Ve might still have a chance to-” Henrik was cut off by shaking of the whole house. The lights flickered and pictures crashed to the ground. The egos crouched low to the ground while Jackie took a defensive stance in front of them.

When the quaking stopped, they all looked up to see a strange mix of blue and green light coming from the top of the stairs. JJ looked to his brothers with tears in his eyes. He knew this light well, and he knew what it meant for all of them. He took out his watch, tapped it three times, and motioned his hand back. Too late.

 


	7. Chapter 7

     The house shook again. Jackie took off towards the stairs with no hesitation. Henrik cursed under his breath, “Dummkopf! He’s going to get himself killed.” The good doctor bounded after the hero. Chase tried to get up to follow, not wanting to leave his brothers to their own devices, but a tug on his wrist stopped him. He whipped his head around to find a hand on his wrist belonging to JJ. Chase could tell he was pleading for him to stay. 

“Sorry, little dude. I have to go help. Marvin is still up there. We have to save him.” Chase looked back towards the stairs. He thought about everything that could be happening to the young magician. Chase was supposed to help keep his family safe, and now his little brother was involved with Anti. He was gonna need more than a few drinks after this.

JJ shook his head and signed, “Too late. Marvin is gone.” JJ had been helping Marvin with his magic for years. His magic was only ever purple, except for one time when it nearly blew up the entire house. JJ didn’t know as much as Marvin, but he knew enough to know that this blue and green light was extremely dangerous. Not anything that Marvin would try if he was in his right mind. His best friend was gone.

Chase’s eyes widened, “You don’t know that. We have to try. We- We have to do something.” He backed out of JJ’s grip and booked it for the stairs. He wasn’t going to let any more of his family slip between his fingers. He promised to protect his family, and he wasn’t going to let some glitch stop him from doing just that.

Chase raced up the stairs to the landing. He looked around wildly until he caught sight of Jackie and Henrik. He was about to run to them, but then he realized that they weren’t fighting. They were just standing there. It almost looked like they were in a trance. Cautiously, Chase made his way to his big brothers. 

He walked in between them and turned to see their faces. Their jaws were slack and their shoulders relaxed. It was the exact opposite of the defensive posture Chase was expecting from the two. They both had a purple haze over their eyes. He fruitlessly tried to wave a hand in front of their faces, anything to get them to snap out of whatever was affecting them. 

“ _ That won’t work, you know, _ ” a broken voice came from behind the young father. Chase dragged his attention from his brothers to the man behind him. As soon as his eyes shifted, Chase’s whole body went stiff and his face paled. Anti stood at the end of the hall. He had a sadistic smirk plastered across his face. His hand lingered on top of another figure standing beside him, petting his long hair. His face was obscured by shadow, but Chase had a bad feeling that he already knew who it was.

“ _ Do you like my new pet, Chaser? _ ” the glitch asked, taunting Chase. Chase didn’t move out of fear of what he would see if he did. That fear didn’t last long, though. “ _ Here. Let me introduce you. _ ” Anti laughed as he commanded his newest puppet to conjure blue fire within his hand. It lit up the figure’s face so that Chase could see him perfectly. Chase took a step back as he looked upon Marvin standing there. His mask covered his face, but he could still see the magician snarling at him with hate-filled eyes. 

“ _ I know it’s usually dogs that do the hunting, but I think I’ll make an exception for my little kitty here. _ ” Anti’s laugh rang through the halls, and all Chase could think of was how grateful he was that JJ was still downstairs and not here to see this. Anti turned to Marvin and said, “ _ You know what to do. _ ” Marvin raised his other hand and started casting another spell. 

     Chase wanted to run away, but his legs wouldn’t move. One look down at them explained why. A blue current surrounded them. Chase knew instantly it was a variation of the leg-locker jinx Marvin used to cast on Jackie whenever the hero got on his nerves. Frozen to the spot, Chase looked back up at Marvin, trying desperately to find any trace of his little brother left in those eyes. All he found was a purple haze as the magician recited an incantation. Then everything went black. 

     He was falling in the darkness, deeper and deeper. After what felt like hours, he landed and the darkness faded away. Chase tried to get his bearings and found that he was back in the house he got with Stacy.

     Two sets of laughing voices started drawing nearer, and Chase knew immediately who owned them. It was his kids. They bounded over to him and pulled him into a hug. Chase’s heart ached from how much he had missed them. He was still be showered with “I love you”’s and such when Stacy sauntered into the room. She came up behind Chase and draped her arms around him.

     “Where have you been, darling? We’ve been waiting for you,” she whispered into his ear. Chase bit back the sob rising in his chest. His family was here. They were whole again. Stacy sounded so sweet and his kids were so comforting, and yet it felt like something else was slipping away. Chase tried to pull on that loose thread, but his daughter tugged on his sleeve and grabbed his attention.

     “Will you tell us a story? We wanna hear about all those trophies we found in the garage.” his eldest daughter asked. His son jumped up and down in agreement. For a second, Chase was completely confused. He didn’t have any trophies. He was just average. But then fantastic memories of all these accomplishments filled his mind. He was an MVP athlete. His own YouTube channel had tens of millions of followers who all adored him. Chase smiled down at his children, nodded, and began describing in detail events that just a minute ago he could’ve sworn never happened.

      JJ felt shivers shooting up his spine as he heard the upstairs quiet down. He had hid behind the sofa after he heard Anti’s laughter. It was a terrible sound, one that sent him back to when JJ was first created. It was the same sound he heard anytime he saw blood or he was alone. It was the same sound Marvin had once helped him tune out.

     Marvin. Marvin was up there, alone with the glitch demon. JJ was terrified, but his desperation to save his brother won out in the end. Slowly JJ raised his head up and looked to the stairs. The blue and green light was still shining bright. He carefully made his way to the stairs and ascended. What he saw when he reached the top nearly caused his legs to give out. A bit down the hallway were his big brothers, but they weren’t moving. All three of them were on their knees with their heads drooping down. Their eyes were pointed towards the ground but ultimately unseeing. In front of them were Anti and Marvin. 

     JJ ducked back down the stairs until he could only just see what was happening. Anti was walking in between the three egos and inspecting Marvin’s work. “ _ And you’re sure they won’t wake up? _ ” Marvin walked behind him with his head bowed.

    “No, master, they’re in their own perfect little universes. They won’t even want to try to fight it. I can end it at your command.” Marvin answered in an obedient, monotone voice. JJ shivered again at the lack of inflection and emotion in his voice. He seemed so hollow. 

    Anti laughed again, “ _ I want to break them, and what better way than to destroy each of their paradises? Well, pet, it’s time to go. _ ” 

    Marvin hesitated and looked up, “What about J- the other one?” JJ felt like he had been stabbed through the heart hearing Marvin refer to him like that, but at least he didn’t sound mindless in that moment.

    Anti glitched over to the magician and roughly yanked his hair. “ _ Do you still care what happens to him, hmm? Don’t you dare question me! _ ” Anti’s glitches increased exponentially as his volume grew louder. He tossed Marvin to the side and continued, “ _ We’ll deal with him soon enough. He’ll come to us. He wouldn’t dream of leaving his favorite brother with his worst nightmare after all. _ ” Anti walked back over to Marvin and caressed the side of his face. When Marvin looked back up towards Anti, JJ could see that his eyes were filled with static.

    Marvin nodded once and began the ritual that JJ vaguely recognized as one of his teleportation spells. Usually he would use it for small tricks or to spook one of his brothers, but this time the spell was bigger and far darker. In a blink of an eye all five of them were gone, and JJ was left alone amidst the suffocating silence.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for all of the support I've had for this story!! It's been amazing hearing from everyone. If you like this story, you should check out my other work on here. I also have a few more works on my Tumblr @musical-in-theory  
> Thanks again!


	8. Chapter 8

JJ rushed out of his hiding spot as soon as his brothers disappeared. He sprinted down the hallway without pausing at the site where his family used to be. He knew that if he stopped to mourn everything he lost, he would fall and never get back up. The time for his tears was over. It had to be.

He quickly made his way over to Marvin’s door. JJ hesitated only a moment before he opened the magician’s door. He thought back to his static filled eyes and felt only rage. Anti took everything from him. No, it was worse than that. He forced Marvin to take everything from him. His desire to save his family and get revenge on the glitch fueled his next steps into the darkened room.

If there was going to be any way to track down the demon, it was going to be in Marvin’s room. JJ had been in Marvin’s room plenty of times, but it felt different this time. He felt like he was trespassing. This wasn’t the same place where he had once spent hours with his best friend planning a way to put all of the furniture in the house on the ceiling for April Fool’s. It was darker, corrupted.

JJ could still see the messes left over from spells gone awry, but there were also new burn marks on the floors and walls. All of his old tricks were cast aside and his mirror laid on the floor, broken. JJ knew from his own experience with Anti that this was all from the glitch testing out his newest puppet. 

He turned around and started to sign what he observed, but then he remembered. There’s no one there. He’s all alone. His hands fell limply to his sides as he stared out the door into the empty hallway. He has always been a silent man, but this has never been a silent home until now. JJ wanted to run. He wanted to go dive under his covers and pretend that this was all just some bad dream. He wanted to wake up to Chase’s assurances that everything would be alright and Marvin using his magic to recreate constellations on his ceiling. But wishing wouldn’t bring them back.

JJ took a deep breath and squared his shoulders. Back to the task at hand. There had to be some clue as to where they went, some scrap of information that could lead him to Anti and the others. He needed to prove that he wasn’t useless. He could save them, if only he could find them.

He kept sifting through Marvin’s papers looking for even one little hint. There were still some papers from previous plans for tricks meant to impress the brothers, but there were also pieces of parchment describing dark enchantments that JJ could only guess at what they do. He tried not to dwell on the scroll that contained an illustration of hazy eyes.

As JJ flipped through the pages of a book that he didn’t remember seeing a month ago, a scribble in the margin caught his eye. Upon closer inspection he could make out the word disaster written in Marvin’s handwriting. JJ glanced at the spell outlined beside it. He could tell from what little magic Marvin had taught him that it was a binding spell. Marvin had performed a similar spell once before to bind Henrik’s hand to his coffee for a few hours. This one looked more complex, almost like it-

JJ jumped back from the desk, knocking over the chair in the process. He pieced the puzzle together in his mind, and he was terrified of the picture that came out of it. It was a soul-binding spell. One that would make Marvin Anti’s puppet forever, or at least as long as Anti found him useful. JJ took a moment to compose himself again before inching his way back to the desk. He knew what the spell was, but that still didn’t explain what “disaster” meant.

JJ thought at first that Marvin wrote it as a way of warning against the spell, but Marvin was smarter than that. He wouldn’t have taken the time to write something so obvious. No disaster had to mean something else. JJ wracked his brain trying to come up with something, but not a single idea stuck.

He walked over to the bed and toppled onto it, not caring as his face hit the mattress. Fatigue washed over him as he pushed himself to roll onto his back. For the first time he let himself feel how tired he was. He wished he had time to just sleep and forget about the mess he was in for a little while, but he knew he was under a time crunch. A silent, bitter laugh emanated from JJ. He was out of time in every sense of the phrase. Too late. Too early. Anything but on time. Even his own style was pulled from a different era.

If he closed his eyes, JJ could pretend like he was in his own room, and Marvin would burst through his door any moment with some new scheme to get back at Jackie for using his personal hair conditioner. There was always some new plan with him. Chase often called them the disaster duo because of all the chaos they caused for their older brothers.

JJ’s eyes snapped open. They were the disaster duo. Anti wouldn’t know that. In fact, every March they would go to an abandoned building downtown to plan out their pranks for April Fool’s. They named it Disaster HQ. It all started clicking in his head. Anti and Marvin had to have gone there. 

Triumph swelled within JJ’s chest until one realization dwarfed everything else in comparison. Marvin was the one to leave this breadcrumb trail. Anti hadn’t ordered him to. Marvin was still fighting deep down. Which meant JJ still had a chance to save him.

 


	9. Chapter 9

JJ shoved his hands into his pockets and kept his head down as he made his way toward the abandoned part of town. He didn’t want to attract any unnecessary attention that might tip Anti off about his whereabouts. As he got closer to his and Marvin’s old hideout, JJ made sure to stick closer to the shadows. He only had one shot at this, only one chance to save them all, and he couldn’t afford to give up the element of surprise.

His breath hitched when the building came into view. It was still hard for JJ to believe that this place which used to house some of his best memories now harbored the one man who had caused his worst. He steadied himself before sneaking around to the back of the structure. Thankfully the thick vines that lead to the second story were still intact.

JJ carefully made his way up the vine, and silently slipped in through the window. In all of his pranks with Marvin, JJ had mastered the art of moving silently and without trace. He had never been more grateful for that trait than he was as he worked his way towards the room his brothers were in.

At the end of the hall, a room emanated a mixture of purple, blue, and green light. JJ’s heart started racing when he saw it, knowing that it meant that Marvin was using more of his magic towards Anti’s twisted plan. JJ quickly but quietly darted to the side of the door before poking his head in. 

JJ peered into the room and took stock of everything he saw. Marvin was in the middle of the room standing with his back to the doorway. He had a book in one hand while his other was hovered over a large sigil on the floor. The light was coming from his hand. Marvin’s hair was whipping around wildly as if there was a wind that was solely focused on the young magician. JJ focused back on the sigil. It depicted an intricate design that he had seen earlier in Marvin’s books. It could only mean that Anti was already having Marvin prepare the spell-binding ritual.

JJ looked to the left wall and found his three brothers. They were each chained by their wrists to a pipe on the wall. JJ felt his heart break at the sight. Their eyes were still glazed over with the purple haze JJ had seen before. Their faces contained no emotion, and the way they sagged against the wall resembled the posture of a ragdoll. They looked so helpless. If he wasn’t careful, JJ could end up the exact same way.

He shook the thought from his head. The only way he was going to get through this is if he keeps his mind clear. He scanned the room again, but couldn’t seem to find any trace of the glitch. The more JJ thought about it, the more unsurprising it was. Anti was most likely off recording a video about how he had taken down the rest of them and gloating about his victory. 

Sticking to the wall, JJ tiptoed to his brothers. His heart sunk to the floor as JJ realized once he got to them that he had no plan for how to actually get them all out of there. He wasn’t strong enough to carry all three of his brothers, and he certainly didn’t have the time to be able to get them out one by one. He looked at each of their faces in turn. JJ wished that he could trade places with any of the three. They would know what to do better than he did.

JJ hadn’t noticed that he’d lost focus until he heard static slowly build in the room. He hesitantly turned around to where he had seen Marvin last and found that both he and Anti were staring straight at him.

“ _ Well, well, well. What did I tell you, my puppet? I knew it wouldn’t be long before the man out of time found his way here. _ ” Anti’s broken voice rang out in the quiet. JJ nearly tripped over himself. Did Anti tell Marvin to leave that hint? No. That wasn’t possible. Only he and Marvin knew what it meant. JJ’s eyes shifted from the glitch over to Marvin who was kneeling in front of Anti. His expression was hard to see from behind his mask, but JJ could tell that it was one of anger. It was the same look he gave Chase right before Anti had ordered him to attack.

“ _ Why so quiet, little one? Cat got your tongue? _ ” he laughed hysterically at his own joke as he placed his hand back onto Marvin’s head. “ _ It was noble of you to try and rescue them, but surely you understand that I can’t have you messing with my plans for them. However, in the spirit of compromise, I’ll meet you halfway. I’ll have my pet here let you join your brothers. _ ” Marvin rose to his feet as Anti gave him the command to cast the same spell on JJ.

As soon as he saw Marvin’s hand begin to glow purple, JJ sprang into action. He had come too far to let himself be taken now. He didn’t want to do this, but his best bet at that point was to take Marvin out of commission. JJ ducked beneath the spell Marvin shot at him and dashed toward the middle of the room. 

Anti barked out a crazed laugh as he glitched around the room to see his pet fight from different angles. “ _ Run, little one! Go ahead and put on a show for me. The stage is set and my performer is ready. Let’s see how long you can keep up with his act. _ ”

JJ bobbed and weaved just how Jackie had once taught him. He was able to dodge most of his attacks, but every so often a stray playing card would cut into him. Even so, JJ kept gaining ground until he was right in front of the magician.

Before Marvin could even react, JJ dropped low to the ground and used his legs to sweep Marvin’s from underneath him. Marvin fell to the ground hard. JJ took advantage of his lack of balance and,after signing a quick apology, punched his face with a right hook that even the mighty Jackieboy Man would’ve been proud of. 

Behind him, the purple haze gradually vanished from Henrik, Jackie, and Chase’s eyes. JJ’s hit was just powerful enough to break Marvin’s concentration on keeping them in their hallucinations. All three were disoriented as they came out of their trances, but they quickly got their bearings as they heard scuffle occurring before them. 

Jackie was the first to get to his feet. Impulsively he rushed over to go help JJ fight. However, he was stopped halfway as Anti glitched right in front of him. “ _ And just where do you think you’re going, hero? I’m not finished with you yet. _ ” Jackie sneered at the glitch with a downright murderous glare. Sparks of lightning sprung forth from Jackie’s hands in an instant, and suddenly arched toward Anti. He was able to glitch away in time, but it left an opening for the hero to get to his little brother.

Chase and Henrik weren’t too far behind. They all raced over to help JJ in his fight, but JJ was losing steam rapidly. He didn’t want to fight Marvin. Each time he looked into his furious eyes, JJ felt another piece of him shatter. It caused JJ to keep getting sloppier and sloppier in his attacks, while Marvin was getting sharper and stronger in his after getting over the initial shock of the fight.

Soon enough Marvin had turned the tides on JJ. It was all the little ego could do just to keep dodging his spells and curses. Between each assault, he desperately tried to get through to his best friend. His hands flew as they spelled out apologies and pleas for him to snap out of it. Tears streamed down his face which only made it harder for him to hold his own.

Jackie arrived just in time to pull JJ out of the way of a large, blue fireball. JJ’s sleeve sizzled from the heat of the fire that had barely swiped his arm. Jackie held his little brother close as he frantically searched for the exit. He was about to dash over there when JJ squirmed right out of his arms. His littlest brother sprinted back toward Marvin. He couldn’t leave without him!

Chase caught him by the elbow and kept an iron grip on the ego. “I know you want to save him, but we can’t stay here. We have to go. I’m sorry.” Chase picked up JJ and tossed him over his shoulder. Then he began to run toward the exit where Henrik and Jackie were waiting. JJ fought him the whole way, pounding away at his back, but it didn’t do any good. The last thing JJ saw as they escaped was Marvin tied with strings that led back to Anti and identical smirks on both of their faces.

“ _ You better keep running, little one. You’re almost out of time. _ ”

 


	10. Chapter 10

JJ’s arm jerked back almost immediately after Henrik started applying a salve to his burn. They hadn’t noticed it at the time, but Marvin’s fire had definitely left its mark on him. Henrik gingerly brought his little brother’s arm back in front of him and continued to treat the wound. Henrik kept his eyes downcast and focused on the task at hand. He may not have been able to prevent injury, but he could damn well treat the ones that had occured.

Jackie and Chase sat in two different corners of Henrik’s room. They had all headed straight there as soon as they arrived back at the house. Jackie and Chase chose their respective seats and stayed like that for the entire time they had been there. None of them had uttered a word, and all of them were too afraid to be the first one to break the silence.

Henrik walked over next to Chase where the bandages were stored. As soon as he laid a hand on one of the rolls, Chase’s hand was on top of his. Henrik looked up at the man who was still staring at the floor. “We have to stop them- I mean him. W-we have to stop Anti.” Chase choked out. His hand fell limply back to his side.

Henrik wanted desperately to help his younger brothers. They were all hurting, but it was in a way that he couldn’t heal. All of his medical training was useless in the face of this trauma. If he was honest with himself, he was hurting too. What he saw… 

He shook the thought away. Heal the burn. Heal the family. Focus on the task at hand. There would be time later to think about everything else. He grabbed the bandages and walked back to JJ. “Zhis should heal in about 2 veeks. Reapply zhe ointment in zhe morning and before bed.” Henrik spoke quietly. JJ nodded and launched himself out of his seat to latch onto the doctor.

Henrik stood frozen until he heard soft sniffles coming from his chest. He raised his hand to smooth the hair on JJ’s head. Henrik was never one for sentiment, but seeing his brothers so broken at the hands of the people he had once loved brought tears to his eyes. He had never felt so lost.

Jackie suddenly got up out of his chair and started marching toward the door. “Und vhere do you zhink you are going?” Henrik stared down the hero while still keeping JJ close to him. 

Jackie stopped in the doorway, not looking back. “I’m gonna go kill Antisepticeye.” He tried to leave again, but Chase’s hand on his arm stopped him. Jackie looked into his pleading eyes, “I have to. He keeps hurting everyone! And now he has Marv on his side. How can I keep calling myself a hero, when I can’t even keep my own family safe from those villains?” Jackie was practically screaming.

JJ pulled back from Henrik and glared at Jackie. “Do not call Marvin a villain. Don’t ever call him that. We can still save him.” he signed so fast that Jackie almost didn’t catch it. 

They all looked at JJ with pity. He could tell that there was something they weren’t telling him. Chase was the first to speak up, “Jameson… I don’t know how much of Marvin there is left to save. He took each of us out of commission using what we care about most. He almost incinerated you! I think… I think Marvin is gone. I’m not saying we should kill them,” Chase threw Jackie a pointed look and then returned his tired gaze to JJ, “but we have to stop the both of them at all costs.”

JJ screwed his eyes shut and balled up his fists. How could they just give up on their own brother? He glared at all three of them as he backed away. He shakily signed, “No, no, you didn’t see what I saw. He’s still in there. He has to be. He’s still in there. He’s still in there.” JJ continued to sign the same phrase over and over again until Chase walked to him and grabbed his hands.

“I know that this is hard to accept, but think about it. We barely escaped with our lives. Marvin was the one trying to kill us when Anti only order him to capture you. We have to face facts. Our Marvin isn’t coming back.” JJ nearly collapsed to the ground in sobbing mess, but Chase caught him in time.

JJ shakily took his hands back from Chase and lifted them up, “You can’t be right. You can’t be. If he wasn’t able to be saved, then Anti wouldn’t have him perform that ritual.” His hand movements were so unstable, Chase at first thought that he misunderstood.

“JJ do you know vhat zhey are planning?” Henrik cautiously moved towards the little gentleman. 

JJ looked up to his eldest brother, “All I know is that I found the tip that led me to you was next to a very dangerous spell. One that will keep Marvin by his side for as long as he lives. Why? Why in the everloving world would Anti do that if he wasn’t scared that Marvin still has a chance?” JJ stepped continuously closer to Henrik until his hands were practically in his face. 

Chase stayed where he was, speechless. He wanted to believe it was true, but what Marvin had him live through… He hated that he could never make that dream a reality, and that had to be the magician’s intent. Marvin got inside all of their heads and crossed a serious line just because Anti said that he should. Chase also couldn’t forget the hatred he saw in Marvin’s eyes. There was no way that it was completely from Anti’s influence. 

“Chase, vhat do you zhink ve should do?” The question pulled him out of his thoughts. Chase made eye contact with Henrik and was sure that he must have heard wrong. Henrik and Jackie were the ones who made plans. Henrik saw the disbelief that Chase tried and failed to hide from them and put a hand on his shoulder. “You have gotten us all zhis far, so vhat is our next move?”

“Uhhhh, okay, okay. I-I guess we, uh.” Chase trailed off and looked around the room. His brothers were counting on him. They believed in him. He wouldn’t let his family down. Not this time. 

He took a deep breath and continued, “Alright, here’s what we’re gonna do. Henrik, I need you to start preparing syringes. Fill them with any kind of strong sedatives you can think of. If we can take them down without killing them, then that’s the route I wanna take.” Chase peeked over at JJ to make sure he was okay with that. He seemed conflicted but ultimately nodded.

“Jackie, I want you to listen in on those police scanners you stole. Yes we know about them. Keep an ear out for any major power drainages or explosions, something that might point towards Marvin performing a spell. We don’t know for sure whether they moved locations or not, and we can’t afford to be wrong.

JJ you knew-know, you know more about Marvin than any of us. We need to know weak spots or ways to counteract his spells. I understand that you don’t want us to hurt him, but if we don’t stop him then he won’t hesitate to take us all out. After all, we all barely made it out last time.” Chase took another breath after he finished. He had never been much of leader, but there was a first time for everything, right?

Just then, Jackie whispered to himself, “No. It was too easy…” 

“Too easy? Did you not just hear the part where I said we barely escaped with our lives? What part of that sounds too easy to you?” Chase turned his head to squint at the hero. Jackie looked up startled as if he hadn’t expected for anyone to have heard that.

He regained his composure and explained, “I’d ask if you’re blind, but Henrik’s the only one here with glasses. Didn’t you see? Anti just watched us go out the door. Even Marvin stopped attacking long enough to let us go. Anti said he needed us, so why just let us escape?” Jackie stepped away from the door and began pacing around the room. 

“Perhaps ve veren’t zhe target.” Henrik looked over at JJ, “Perhaps ve vere merely zhe symptoms of a larger virus zhat Anti vanted to get rid of.” 

JJ signed, “What in thunderation are you talking about?” They all could tell how nervous he was. Henrik learned quickly that whenever his little brother was scared, he liked to revert to old-fashioned sayings and phrases.

Chase stepped up, “He’s saying, JJ, that the reason Anti and Marvin let us escape is because we were making it too hard for them to get you unharmed.”

Meanwhile across town back at the abandoned building Marvin was thrown against the wall. “ _ Two tasks. That’s all I needed you to accomplish. Two simple tasks, and you failed at both.” _ Anti stalked over to the magician who sat limply against the wall. He failed his master. He deserved this. Anti grabbed Marvin’s chin and forced him to look up, “ _ Maybe I should take my strings back and throw you to your brothers, let them deal with you. _ ”

__ For a brief moment, the word “escape” flashed across Marvin’s mind, but it was quickly replaced with visions of his brothers torturing him for the monster he had become. Those visions morphed into ones of life without Anti as the static creeped in. Without Anti, how could he think? How could he live without his permission to do so? His magic was his master’s alone to control. 

Marvin shook his head pleadingly and Anti smiled, “ _ Then get back to work, and next time I expect you to be able to kill when I tell you to. _ ” Marvin thanked him and ran back to the sigil, but the word “kill” had seeded a bad feeling in his mind, a feeling that he just couldn’t shake.


	11. Chapter 11

****

No one stayed in Henrik’s room long after they figured out that Anti was actually targeting JJ. JJ had run out of the room before Chase could even finish his sentence. None of them blamed him, though. Anti had been out for JJ since he’d been created. Jackie tried figuring out why for the first 3 months, but after hitting dead ends too many times, he gave up. He had figured it was just another crazy, chaotic obsession from his ex-brother’s deteriorating mine. Or at least that’s what he had hope it was.

Chase was the next to leave after reminding the remaining two about their newly assigned jobs. Jackie took an educated guess that he was leaving to go comfort JJ. Chase was always chasing after one person or another, usually to check on their well-being. Jackie has been on the receiving end of his father-like doting. He only wished that Chase would take more care of himself rather than turning to his usual therapist, a bottle of whiskey.

Once Henrik started gathering his own materials to for his syringe concoction, Jackie decided it was time to exit as well. His room was right next to the good doctor’s, so it wasn’t much of a trip. However as he opened his door, the hero looked back towards the other end of the hall. That end contained Marvin and JJ’s rooms, and Jackie’s gaze landed on the door belonging to the magician.

Jackie looked to make sure no one was in the hallway and swiftly walked over to Marvin’s room. He made sure to open and close the door quietly. It was probably best that his brother’s didn’t know he was in here. JJ would have a meltdown, Chase would freak out about him being somewhere where Anti had been, and Henrik… well Henrik wouldn’t care. Jackie shook his head. This wasn’t about them anyway.

He’d been in Marvin’s room plenty of times before, but he’d never felt like an intruder like he did now. The room was far too quiet for a place that once housed the loudest of them all. There was something wrong about it being Jackie and not Marvin disturbing the silence. Jackie winced as heard the floorboard creek beneath his every step, somehow too loud and too quiet all at once. 

The room itself felt different as well. Marvin’s room was all too often a complete and utter disaster. Henrik likened it to the aftermath of a tornado. However Jackie could always feel this excited energy behind it. Marvin never put anything away simply because he was already onto the next big trick. The room was still a mess, but not in the same way. Books and papers were strewn about his desk and the floor underneath. There were broken decor laying a little too close to the wall to not have been thrown. All of it summed up to this frustration that Jackie could practically taste. 

How alone had Marvin felt in the past month? How many times had he wanted his brothers’ comfort? How many times had Jackie failed him? Frustrated tears started to form in the corners of his eyes. He just sat back and waited as Marvin had been going through this hell. Some big brother he was.

Jackie walked slowly over to the bed and sat on the edge. When he looked up, he could see an almost perfect recreation of the night sky. The only thing that didn’t look realistic is that the constellations were in the wrong place. Marvin had made sure to put his favorites directly over his bed regardless of their correct orientation. Jackie could still remember the day he unveiled his creation to all of them.

Marvin hadn’t come out of his room for almost the entire day except to peek his head out to accept lunch and the occasional “I’m working on something Marv-elous.” The magician always had a way to get everyone excited about things they knew nothing about. Jackie almost laughed but stopped himself when he caught a glimpse of the broken mirror in the corner of the room. 

Marvin was their ball of energy. Everytime he got excited, they all did too. Every rousing speech Jackie ever gave was only effective because Marvin was there to boost him up. So how did he let that energy slip through his fingers and become corrupted by this monster? For the first time in a long time, Jackie let the tears slip, let the carefully crafted mask crack and fall apart.

He didn’t notice that another figure had entered the room until he spoke up. “Great minds zhink alike, ja?” Henrik sat beside Jackie and let him fall apart on his shoulder. “I vas just about to come here to zhink as vell. Maybe somezhing in here might… ah who am I kidding? I miss him too you know.” Jackie paused and lifted his head. “Ve aren’t veak for caring. If ve didn’t care, ve vouldn’t even be trying right now. Nein, it is because ve care zhat ve are going to vin.”

Jackie sniffed, “Hen, as much as I appreciate it, maybe leave the speeches to me. I do them so much better.” Henrik scoffed in mock offence and Jackie laughed. As the laughter died down, Jackie spied a small vial with a little bit of glowing green liquid left inside it. He nudged Henrik and nodded his head over toward it. “You remember the time Marvin convinced all of us that if we drank a bit of that, we would be able to speak any language known to man?”

Henrik chuckled a bit and shook his head, “Ja, but I also remember zhat it actually caused a pepper-like reaction to vhere our mouths vere on fire for zhe whole day.”

“Milk was no help at all! And he just stood there laughing as Chase ran outside to use the garden hose on his tongue.” Soon both men had devolved into hysterical laughter as they each recounted tales of how Marvin had pulled fast ones on them.

JJ eventually wandered back towards his own room in his attempts to avoid Chase. He was the last person JJ wanted to talk to at the moment. He was about to shut himself in his room when he heard laughter. The gentleman followed the sound to Marvin’s room and found his two eldest brothers. He walked over to the bed and climbed in behind them.

“Oh JJ! Thank Sean, you’re here. Tell Henrik about the time you and Marv got Chase to eat candy that caused bubbles to come out every time he opened his mouth.” Jackie could barely get through his sentence because of how hard he was laughing. JJ smiled for the first time in what felt like eons. He began signing how he was able to convince Chase that the candy that he definitely didn’t see Marvin messing with early was perfectly fine and used a sleight of hand trick to pretend to eat a piece himself. JJ needed this. He needed his family.

A cough from the doorway caught all of their attentions. Chase stood sheepishly in the doorway. “Guys, we really should focus on taking down Anti and M- his puppet.” He couldn’t bring himself to say Marvin’s name. 

The whole room became a quiet until Jackie piped up, “You’re just saying that ‘cause you got pranked the most.” Henrik burst into laughter and JJ fell backwards on the bed with shaking shoulders. Chase stood frozen for a moment but soon fell victim to his siblings’ infectious laughter. 

That night they all slept in Marvin’s room. They spent a little time cleaning the more painful reminders of his departure, but they left the remainders of his mischief. That night Jackie took comfort in knowing that his family was still here, and if he had any say in it, they were going to be whole again soon.

 


	12. Chapter 12

Marvin swayed on his feet. His body ached, and pain continuously shot up from his feet like a constant lightning bolt. He had been preparing the ritual for the past two days. It would have taken much less time to complete if the mute hadn’t found them too early and caused him and his master to relocate. 

Something itched in the back of Marvin’s head when he thought about how the youngest ego found them. It felt as if he had forgotten something very important, but it was just outside of his reach. He shook the thought from his head. His master had already told him to ignore that feeling, that it was dangerous to indulge.

Marvin walked around the sigil he had repainted on the floor of the new hideout to put the finishing touches on it. Everything was perfect and in its correct place. Anti would be pleased. He looked around for him, but remembered he was out on business that he wouldn’t share with Marvin.

His shoulders slumped with the realization of just how tired he was. The magician hadn’t had any free time  ~~ since he’d been taken by Anti ~~ in a long time. Marvin took another step and collapsed to the floor as his legs gave out beneath him. Marvin cried out, “Damnit! As if I couldn’t get any more useless!” He slammed his fist against the ground and held back frustrated tears. 

The magician took a deep breath and scooted himself over to the nearest wall. As he leaned up against the worn exposed brick, he closed his eyes and shoved his hands into his pockets. His tired hand ran over the rough edges of his cards. Marvin opened his eyes in surprise. He had completely forgotten about his tarot cards. He took the deck out and fanned it out before him. The familiar feel of the sleek plastic and buzz of energy radiating from them comforted the magician. 

“I suppose a small reading couldn’t hurt. I can’t really do anything else until Anti gets back anyways.” Marvin mumbled to himself and then laughed bitterly, “I can’t really do anything.” Marvin crossed his legs and tried to sit a bit straighter. He stacked the cards and began shuffling them with an expertise that came from years of dealing with them. 

The sound of cards hitting against cards echoed through the room and filled Marvin’s ears. It was so similar to the constant static that had been following Marvin around, and yet it was completely different. Both left him feeling relaxed and comforted. However, the static was dull and warm and soft. It carried everything away from him, every problem, every worry. The cards were sharp and cold like an ice bath. They shot through his senses and connected him to all the energy the universe provided. It shocked and excited and… itched.

A hazy memory dragged itself to the forefront of his mind. It was of himself surrounded by 4 figures, their faces blurred out. He was giving them a tarot reading with these same cards. He flipped over a card, the Fool. One of the figures in front of him seemed to take mock offense to the card as the others laughed. Marvin laughed alongside them- the memory glitched- him. There was only one figure now. His face was clear as day. It was Anti, only Anti. Had… hadn’t there been others just a moment ago? No. No, Marvin would’ve remembered. 

Marvin shook his head again. It didn’t matter. He’d feel much better after a reading. At least he hoped so. Marvin took a cleansing breath and shook off any negative energy he had been feeling. He pushed all of his focus and internal energy into the cards and a question. It was a question he hadn’t voiced for fear of invoking his master’s wrath. What’s missing?

Marvin flipped over the first card. The two of cups, the doctor’s card. Marvin scrunched up his nose. Was he sick? Why would a doctor be missing? He thought maybe the next card would help clarify, but he turned over Justice. Normally he would associate this card with so-called heroes, but that made even less sense than the two of cups. The only connection the two have are that they can represent people who save others. Marvin doesn’t need saving! He’s fine where he is. 

Marvin sighed and ran a hand through his hair. One more card. He flipped over another. This time it was the five of pentacles. This card represented strained relationships often resulting in depression and hopelessness. Marvin was tempted to throw his cards in frustration. None of this made sense. A doctor, a hero, a lover’s quarrel. These cards didn’t apply to him! They applied to… An enraged expression passed over the magician’s face. These cards applied to the men chasing Anti and him. Why the hell were the cards pointing towards his enemies? Perhaps they meant that the “missing” feeling won’t go away until they are defeated? Yes, that had to be it.

Marvin went to put away his deck, but was stopped by a change in the cards’ energy. It was pulling his hand towards another card in the deck. The High Priestess. This card was special to Marvin. Not only was it a card that was close to his own card, the Magician, but it also grounded him. It represented the inner voice and a wise soul. Marvin laid it down beside the other three cards and felt a rogue tear slip down the side of his face. His hand lingered on the last card.

All of his frustration and anger fizzled out and dissipated. The dull ache of exhaustion returned in its stead, accompanied by a new mental fatigue. Sweet darkness began to envelope him as his eyes shut, and his head dipped down and rested on his chest. The last thing Marvin saw before sleep overtook him was a light glow emanating from the four cards in front of him.

Marvin suddenly found himself in a dense fog. He could hardly see his own hands a foot away from his face. It didn’t help that there was only a dim light overhead casting everything in eerie glow. He picked himself up off of the ground expecting his leg to scream at him, but it was completely fine. In fact all of his previous pain had vanished. 

He picked a direction and started walking, trying to find anything that would lead him to answers. After what felt like an hour, Marvin stumbled upon a new scene. The fog opened up to show his bedroom, exactly as he left it. Everything was in its place, and everything was neat and tid- the scene glitched. Abruptly the setting shifted to that of a chaotic mess. Scorch marks on the walls and floor, and broken glass and mirror shards scattered among various tomes and scrolls on the ground, In the middle of the wreckage was the magician himself with strings strangling his body. It looked as if he was caught in a web.

Marvin tried to look away. His hazy mind tried to justify what he saw in any way possible, but even he couldn’t deny what those strings were. They were Anti’s. Marvin’s breathing picked up as his heart raced. His master wouldn’t. Marvin was with him because he wanted to be. This was Marvin’s choice, wasn’t it? 

That’s when the voices started. Marvin heard himself first. His enraged voice echoed throughout with cries of frustration and panic. He heard every excuse he gave to his brothers, every slam of his door. Tears pricked at the corners of his eyes. It felt wrong. Then he heard Anti. At first Marvin was relieved. Anti was here to save him. But then he heard the glitch’s persuasions. He listened as Anti pushed him to go deeper into dark magic and how he was the one to lead him away from his family. Finally he heard his own agreement to become a puppet and the tightening of his strings. Marvin felt sick. It sounded like the tightening of a noose.

His legs felt weak. Marvin backed himself into a corner of the room and slid to the ground. His mind spiraled. This wasn’t real. This wasn’t real. Where was the static? He needed it. It would make all of this go away. Marvin buried his head into his hands and curled into a ball. “Someone, please. Please save me.” he whimpered.

Another figure emerged from the fog. He took in the scene slowly and scanned over every detail. The figure shivered as he listened to the audio replaying over and over again. Once his eyes landed to the quaking mess in the corner of the room, he rushed over to it. Marvin felt the man’s hands lay on his shoulders. He flinched away from the touch, scared it would be just another trick of this place.

The stranger stepped back for a moment, but then he tried again, this time using his hands to coax the magician to look up at him. Marvin slowly peered over his arms and stared at the man. He looked like he was about Marvin’s age. He was dressed in a blue vest and a bowler hat. Marvin cringed a bit at the style. He had a bushy mustache and monocle resting on his face. The stranger seemed familiar to him, but he wasn’t sure why. 

Then the fog cleared. “Jameson,” Marvin choked out. His little brother. His best friend. Everything came flooding back to the magician. His memories of his old life and his family and- and… and what he did. 

Jameson smiled brightly as he heard Marvin say his name. “I’m here Marvin. I found a way to reach you using the dream link you set up, remember? The one that helped me after I kept having nightmares of Anti.” JJ signed slowly. Marvin flinched again when he saw him sign that name. “The others didn’t think it would work anymore, but I just knew it would. I’m here to help you come home.” JJ started to reach towards Marvin, but the magician shoved him away.

“You need to leave, J. You need to go away and stay away. I did this. I’m a danger to the family. I-I’m no better than Anti.” Marvin got up and began walking back the way he came. He knew that if he left with JJ that the glitch would come after all of them. Marvin caused this mess. He was the one that had to deal with the consequences. 

Marvin stopped when he felt a tug on his sleeve. He spun around and saw JJ with tears in his eyes. “No! Stop! That’s not you talking. That’s Anti. Come home, please! You can beat him. You can do anything. You’re Marvin the Magnificent.” 

Marvin wanted to believe that everything would be alright. He really did. He wanted to go home and pretend that none of this ever happened, but that wasn’t reality. Reality was that he was a screw-up. He was dangerous. Magnificent? More like malfunctioning. “I’m sorry JJ. Just forget about me. Tell our brothers that I’m sorry for everything and that I love them so much. I have to go back. Anti is probably waiting to punish me for falling asleep. Goodbye.”

Marvin turned on his heel, not daring to look back at his sobbing brother. JJ didn’t deserve this, but Marvin did. 

The magician woke back up in the same position he fell asleep in. He tried to rub the sleep out of his eyes, but felt tears instead. This puzzled him. Why had he been crying? What happened? Marvin quickly dismissed the questions. Questions were dangerous. Questions got him punished. He pushed himself off of the ground and limped back over to the sigil. There was work to do before his master got back.

As quick as it left, the fog returned and the strings tightened.


	13. Chapter 13

Jameson shot up in his bed. His breath hitched and quickly became hyperventilation. The sheets beneath him twisted and crumpled within his clenched fists as JJ curled in on himself. The image of Marvin turning his back on the gentleman replayed over and over again in his mind. It was the only thing he could really see and process with his wide, all too bright eyes. His faded teal hair was a mess and fell into his face, but JJ couldn’t bring himself to fix it.

All of a sudden, a pair of arms found their way around his torso. JJ’s trembling immediately stopped and all thought ceased except for one particularly instinctive reflex. Anti found him. Marvin told the glitch what he tried to do and now he’s come to kill JJ. That must be it. What else could-

“Shhhhh. JJ, stop please. It’s just us. We’re right here,” a familiar voice cooed. JJ slowly turned his head to the side. Recognition sluggishly made its way to the forefront of Jameson’s mind. Chase, not Anti, was embracing him with a fierce kind of concern. JJ relaxed only slightly and let himself be held for a little while longer. It was a comfort that had been missing in his life for some time, and he couldn’t help but indulge in the temporary bliss it contained.

The two brothers stayed in that position until reality came crashing back down on them. JJ wrangled himself out of Chase’s grasp and looked him in the eye. “I saw him. I found Marvin, but then- then I…” JJ drew into himself and signed in small, timid motions, “I lost him. He looked like he was finally himself again, but I couldn’t get him to come with me. I really thought that this would work. Why? Why didn’t it work?” JJ’s signing crescendoed. 

Chase sighed resignedly and looked back to where the other two egos stood. They had all been watching over JJ while he undertook his risky mission. Jackie stared daggers at his shoes. Chase could practically hear him berating himself for getting his hopes up. Henrik was at the opposite end of the spectrum. The grief lining every inch of his face was almost palpable. Neither of them seemed to be in a state to say what needed to be said.

Chase stood up and stepped away from JJ. His eyes wandered everywhere but where his little brother sat, tear tracks still painfully visible. “I’m sorry J, but it was a longshot anyway.” Chase paused and listened to everyone in the room gasp at his bluntness. “Marv… Mav’s not coming back. We have to just accept that and move on. Wasting time on hopes that he’ll come sauntering back through the front door is getting us nowhere, all while a real threat keeps growing stronger.”  

Chase finally found the courage to look Jameson in the eyes and immediately regretted that decision. The pure look of grief and anguish laced in his expression nearly made him want to take back everything he just said, to give him hope back and tell him that everything would be alright. Nearly. “It’s time we face the facts. Marvin is working for Anti and we have to take them both down. And I’m not gonna lose another little brother while you all figure that out.” With that, Chase turned on his heel and walked out of the room leaving three brothers paralyzed with shock. 

He truly didn’t want to give up on their lost brother, but after years of hoping for the best only to be met with disappointment and more loss Chase realized that sometimes the best course of action is to prepare for the worst-case scenario. 

Jackie was the first to break the suffocating silence left in the young father’s wake. “Damnit, Chase,” he huffed under his breath, “I… he’s right. Fuck, he’s right. We need to stop Anti, but I can’t… I have to save him!” Jackie looked over to Henrik, and the doctor could immediately decode his real meaning. ‘I have to save my little brother. I failed Anti. I can’t fail Marvin.’ 

Henrik nodded to Jackie and walked over to JJ. “I’m sorry, mein Liebling. You did your best, but we can’t keep risking you. You have something Anti wants. If you keep going after Marvin like this, we might lose you to him.” Henrik left a lingering hand on his shoulder and then led Jackie out of the room to go prepare for their inevitable upcoming battle.

JJ can only stare out the door into the hallway for a couple of minutes. How could they just turn their backs on Marvin? Didn’t they understand how close he was to getting their magician back? JJ shook with anger, his hands balled into fists. He refused to just sit back and let them try to take down his big brother.

Jameson dashed over to his desk and wrote a quick note. It simply stated where he was going and that if he didn’t come back, that he was sorry. JJ left the note taped to his door and walked out of the house with a fierce determination in his eyes. If he remembered it correctly, the spell he used to go into Marvin’s dreams created a temporary connection which he could still use to locate his magician. 

The two wayward souls were camped out in another abandoned warehouse not too far from their original base. The dapper man made his way through the building, following the pull tugging on his chest. It led him to the signature purple glow of Marvin’s dark magic that sent enough pain to shatter JJ’s heart as he laid his eyes upon it. He sneaked a glance into the room to find Marvin in the middle of the same spell JJ had seen him perform the last time. His magic swirled from him with a ferocity JJ hadn’t ever seen from him before. 

He took a deep breath and launched himself into the room, headed straight for his Marvin. He couldn’t see the knowing smirk plastered on Marvin’s face, one that was mirrored by the glitch waiting in the shadows. Seconds before JJ could lay a finger on him, Marvin spun around and lifted one of his palms toward the gentleman, all while keeping his other hand maintaining the previous ritual. JJ found himself frozen in place, petrified almost. 

A slow clap echoed from the darkened corner of the room. Its owner emerged soon after and sauntered towards his puppet’s prey. “ ]W̷ell, w͝ell҉, w͟ell̸. ̵If͢ ͘it ̷isn’t͠ ̧th̶e ̶m͡an o͝f the ͠h̷ou̴r.͡ J͢a͏mes̶o҉n͞ ̕Jack̷son.̸ ͟We’ve͠ be͏en ̴waitin̴g͠ a l͟ong t̶i͠m̴e for̶ y͠o̴u t̡o g̶et here, ̧pet. Weren’t͝ ̷we̛ Marv͟in͝ ?” Marvin nodded his head subtly. “ Alt̕houg͡h I ͡mus̛t ͝s͞ay,͢ ͜I’m͠ impre̵ssed͏.̡ I ̴didn’t͘ e͝ven͞ ͜need̨ t͟o̴ ͝h͘ave͝ o̵ur b̧o͜y̨ her̷e ģi̵ve ̕y͝o̡u ̸a ͘hint͜ .” JJ could feel his stomach drop. He had been so sure that the hint to find the two of them was a sign that Marvin was still himself, that he could come back. 

“ Oh ye͢s,͘ and it ̴w̶a͜s ͠al͡l̵ too͘ e͟as͡y to͏ get ͠hi͝m to ̧do it.͢ ̨He̶ wa͟s s̴o eage͏r t͏o ҉pl̕e҉as҉e.̷ ͜He s͢ang like a l͏i͞tt͡le bir̵d.͞ To̴ld ̕m̡e ҉ev͟erytḩing̨ ͞abo͢u͜t̢ y̴o͡u̕ an͜d͜ ͠all th͝e rest̸ of your f͜a̡mi̡ly .” He carded a hand through Marvin’s hair, which the magician accepted lovingly. “ He w͟as j̛us͡t such ͠a gǫo͢d ̧li͡ttle̶ p͝u͞ppet.̷ No ̛m͘ore f̧ear̡, ̶no ̶mo͜re u̶nce̛r͜t̵ainty, no̶ ҉more h̛ard̷ ̵choi̢ces. T҉h̸at̛’s th͜e̛ th̴ing ab͡ou͘t̷ ͜my̶ p̶uppet҉s; They’re̸ f̶r҉e͝e͡ ͞f͠r̷om ͠all͘ of ͜that. ” Anti glitched and suddenly appeared right next to JJ as he whispered, “ Y͜͝ou̧ c̨oưld̢̧͢ be ̨͞t̛͡oo̷ .”

JJ blanched at the very thought of becoming Anti’s just as he so nearly did a measly 5 minutes into his video. “ Oh ͜͝c҉͟o̴͘͏m͘͢e͢ ̢͟no̵w͠ ,” Anti purred, “ J̢u͟s͞t͠ ͢t̴hin҉k͘ ̷of̢ ͡i̧t̨, li͘t͠tle one. Y͝ou cou̷ld be ͝by Ma͡r͏vin͠’s̸ ͘si͢d҉e o͜nce͞ m͜or҉e.̷ ҉Yo͝u c̸oul̷d̶ ͠h͢e҉lp̛ h̡im ͞a̛n͘d b̵e̛ ҉a̷ fam̷ily ag̛ain. ͜Your b̕rothers ͢have̡ g҉i̡ve̵n͜ up̕ o͜n ̷h҉įm ͢a̛lready,͜ but y̛ou ̢d͟on’t͘ ͝h͠ave t̢o.̧ ͞All ͝you̵ ͠h͟ave ͢to do͠ is **sưbm̶it̛** .” 

JJ knew he shouldn’t listen to even a syllable of what the glitch demon said, but when he looked at Marvin opposing him, he wanted to give in. He wanted to do whatever it took to just be alongside his older brother again. But only for a minute. He waited for Anti to come face to face with him and then spat in his face. It was an ungentleman-like gesture, but he unfortunately was unable to use his middle fingers to get his point across. 

“ Y͠͠͠o̶̸̢u li͏t̴̷͜tl̢e͜ p̸͠es͢t ,” Anti hissed. Just as the glitch was about to attack JJ, a syringe flew into the demon’s neck. Anti turned and growled at the people just beyond JJ’s peripheral vision, but he could see the glitch’s eyes droop just a fraction of an inch. A sedative, and that means…

Marvin broke concentration on his spell keeping JJ frozen and flew over to the other side of the sigil painted on the ground. Now mobile once again, JJ hurriedly turned to look at his rescuers and saw his three elder brothers. A wave of relief washed over him mixed in with a pang of guilt for leaving them. 

For a brief moment all he could do was watch as the people he looked up to the most fought with everything they had. Chase expertly handled his gun, dodging and weaving while still getting a few shots off. Henrik sliced with his scalpel and threw more syringes filled with a powerful tranquilizer. Jackie used every type of fighting style known to man to keep Anti off balance and focused on him. They all moved in perfect synchronicity, always in step so that when one went in for an attack, another was there to give him cover. JJ knew that the three of them had fought together before, but this was a sight to behold.

JJ was about to go in to help as a distraction when he was stopped by an earsplitting scream. For a terrifying moment he thought maybe Anti had been able to stab one of his brothers with his knife, but then he realized that it didn’t come from that direction. It came from his left. Marvin. 

JJ whirled around to see Marvin hanging limp but still upright, as if he were being held up solely by unseen strings. He looked like a puppet in every sense of the word. Purple smoke trailed skywards from the center of the sigil. JJ could hear the fighting on the other side of the room come to a standstill. He tore his eyes away from his magician and looked over at the others just as Anti glitched away. His sudden disappearance brought everyone out of their stupor.

JJ ran over to his older brothers. Henrik accepted him with open arms while the other two stayed on guard, searching for Anti. The glitch reappeared next to Marvin with a victorious smirk. He started to laugh but was cut off by a single gunshot that rang through the space. Smoke rose from the barrel of Chase’s gun and blood leaked from Anti’s shoulder. 

Any excitement that might’ve come from that small victory was stifled abruptly when they saw the same wound materialize on Marvin. He cried out in pain, but the glitch did not. “ Game ̸̧͢over ̡̢̛b̷̷oy̨s .” Anti and Marvin’s voices both called. Before any of the others could make a move, Chase took another shot. This time the bullet pierced through the leg, and JJ could have sworn he heard a bone cracking from the impact. Yet again the same wound found its way onto Marvin. The man convulsed and writhed in excruciating pain. 

“Damnit! Die you son of a-” Chase trained his gun on Anti again, but JJ latched onto Chase’s arm.

JJ looked up at him pleadingly and began signing with his free hand, “No! Don’t you see? You’re killing Marvin! You’re killing your baby brother!” JJ tried to grapple the gun from the young father’s hands, but Chase shook him off.

“My brother is gone! That thing over there is just a shell that decided to lie to us for weeks, work with our torturer, and then use our best memories against us! So don’t give me that bullshit!” JJ expected there to be tears, any sign of remorse, in Chase’s eyes, but all there was to be found was a stony expression of determination and a spark of vengeance.

Chase aimed his weapon at the duo, and blood roared in JJ’s ears. Anti’s laugh only grew louder. Henrik and Jackie shouted at Chase to find another way. The world spun around the man out of time. 

And then it stopped. No one moved. No one breathed. No one, that is, except for Jameson Jackson. 

JJ looked around at the scene frozen in front of him. It seemed almost like someone had replaced everyone and everything with a wax replica, but he knew better. JJ felt a small device materialize within his pocket. When he reached in and pulled it out, he found a small pocket watch ticking away in his palm. Its silver gleam shimmered with a magic JJ had never seen before and yet it felt so familiar. He studied it closer and saw that its hands were ticking backwards. No they were counting down. He hadn’t the foggiest idea as to how he knew, but he knew that it was counting down the time he had left in this void he had inadvertently created. 

He worked swiftly. First he took the gun out of Chase’s hands and tucked it into the back of his waistband. His older brother had far too much experience with the weapon for today. Then he dashed over to where Anti stood and pushed him off balance just enough that he’d fall and give the others enough time to get out of there. His time was almost up. He could feel it, but there was one last thing to do.

JJ stepped over, in front of Marvin. His brother. His best friend. His partner in crime. Tears welled up in the gentleman’s eyes as he looked upon the sheer amount of pain held in Marvin’s face. “I love you. I will never stop fighting for you,” he signed against Marvin’s chest. He stepped back and let the scene resume. 

Anti’s eyes widened as he fell over from an unseen force. He hit the ground at the same time that JJ signed behind his back for his brothers to run. The little gentleman couldn’t see them all gape at how their little brother seemingly teleported across the room. He couldn’t see how Chase searched desperately for his gun which he no longer held in his possession. He couldn’t see how Anti squinted at him knowingly, how happy the glitch was that his long-awaited prize finally showed off his previously-hibernating power. All he could see was the fight returning behind the purple eyes staring back at him, a hint of blue intermingling in the dark.

Marvin could feel a ghost of where JJ had held his hands on his chest. The words swirled in the fog of his mind. But they weren’t soft like the phrases Anti used to keep him smothered. They were sharp, sharp enough to cut strings. 

“ O̡h l͠i͞ttl̢e ̸one.̢ ̡If onl͘y ̢y̡o͢u ͞ha̡d ju͟s͏t̸ wait҉e̡d ̡unt͞i͡l yo҉u͜ ̢we͏re ͢i͏n my care͞ ̴to discov̷e̢r͡ tha̸t littl͞ę ̴quir̢k͜ ̡of̴ ҉your͘s.͜ A ̸m͢an ou̴t of͘ time̢ i͞n̶ ̕e̵ver̛y w̧ay .” Anti cackled to himself, “ You co̢ul͢d’ve̷ b͡een ͢s͞u̵c̸h͞ ̛an a̷s̕set, b̸ut ͡now yo͠u̷’̵re just͜ a ̴n҉u͡i͜sa̧n͟ce.͜ ͞Kit̡ty̵, ̨tak͘e ̛ca̛re of t̛h̡is li̷ttle p̶est, w͟on’͘t you ?” Anti looked over to the numb magician, but he didn’t move an inch. He simply hung there looking back at his would-be prey with unseeing eyes.

JJ took his hand in his own and gave it a squeeze laced with an underlying message of, “I’m right here. It’s okay.” Shouts sounded from behind him, pleading him to get away from the danger, but JJ paid them no mind. He was close. He was so close.

“I’m sorry. I should have done more. I shouldn’t have let you stay isolated. I’m sorry.” JJ signed into his chest again. Blue began to overtake the dark violet in the magician’s eyes. His hands twitched. The fog lifted. The bond shattered.

Mavin collapsed to the floor as whatever force held him up dissipated. JJ barely caught him and lowered him to the floor. Next to the two of them, Anti screamed bloody murder. The spell backfired and let the glitch feel every inch of Marvin’s pain all at once. He glitched around the room violently to the point that the egos could see pixels of him in almost every corner. Then he was gone. A cold breeze blew through the building like a breath that the world didn’t know it was holding.

The others rushed over to JJ and Marvin. Henrik was the first to get to them and immediately started checking over the magician. “His pulse is weak, but still there. We need to get him back quickly.” Henrik tried to get JJ to give him to Jackie, but Chase pulled the good doctor back.

“We can’t bring him back to the house! How do we know he won’t try to attack the minute he wakes up?” Chase looked close to hysterics. The father was spiraling. He had no clue as to what just happened. He looked desperately for Henrik to give him reassurance, but there was none to be found. Henrik shrugged him off and went back to try to get Marvin to safety. Chase could only watch as they all carried off the same man who was their enemy only two minutes ago, but if they were determined to make this mistake then Chase was going to do everything in his power to make sure they wouldn’t reap the consequences.

Marvin woke up days later on the cot in Henrik’s room. Next to him sat JJ, fast asleep in a chair with his head resting on the side of the cot. Henrik was busy preparing materials and medicines that would be needed for the next several weeks of recovery, and a hint of red peeking out from the entryway told him that Jackie was nearby guarding the others. None of them had noticed the magician had awoken yet.

He tried to slowly push himself up into a sitting position, but a searing pain in his shoulder kept him down. He let out a sharp hiss of pain that garnered the attention of all three brothers keeping watch. JJ of course started making a fuss about him, checking on his well being, only to be pushed out of the way so that the actual doctor could take stock of his situation. Jackie also found his way into the room. He especially looked like he hadn’t slept at all since Marvin had been brought back.

“How are you feeling? Any dizziness, nausea?” Henrik pulled out a penlight and shined it into his eyes. His eyes flickered back and forth between the monitors and his little brother.

Marvin groaned in response, “Everything hurts. I haven’t been in this much pain since Jackie convinced me to test my flight by jumping off the roof.” A surprised snort came from across the room. The hero had almost forgotten about that day. 

“But you’re back? You’re… you?” JJ signed hesitantly. Marvin stared down at his blanket for a long while before nodding.

“Yeah… yeah. I’m me. And I’m sorry. I’m so so sorry. I-” Marvin devolved into sobs. Jackie and JJ pulled the magician into a hug despite the doctor’s half-hearted warnings to be careful. 

“No, hey none of that, man. You’re safe. You’re back. That’s all that matters. Honestly we should be the ones apologizing. We almost gave up on you. So, heh, why don’t we call it even.” Jackie gripped his non-injured shoulder.

“I’d like that. I just want to move on.”

A voice cut through their respite, “We can’t all just forgive and forget, you know.” Chase stood in the doorway, his anger thinly veiled, and as quickly as he arrived, he vanished back to his room. A small part of him was relieved to see Marvin alive and recovering, but that part was drowned out by paranoia and the sting of betrayal.

“Don’t worry about him. He’ll come around. I swear.” JJ squeezed Marvin’s hand.

“Yeah, I’m sure. I’m just glad to be home.”

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks everyone for sticking with me through this long journey. I hope to make many more stories, but this was the best possible start I could have asked for! I love you all!

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed reading! I plan on updating as often as I can. Feedback encouraged and always welcome. Also please comment if you like this series. It always makes me happy to hear from you guys! Thanks!


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